A Small Price To Pay
by SniperCT
Summary: After learning that Rapunzel is suffering from nightmares, Cassandra offers to keep her company at night to help her sleep. This may have been a mistake.


_**(This is kind of a prologue to a longer fic and entirely the fault of mylordshesacactus, without whom Cassandra wouldn't have been nearly as badly tortured.**_

 _ **Enjoy!)**_

"Cass…? Can I talk… you know what, it's stupid, nevermind."

Cassandra looked up from sewing a tear in one of Rapunzel's dresses, raising an eyebrow. "You can spit it out, Raps. You know I don't judge. Unless you're Eugene. Then I'll judge."

She rolled her eyes, and pulled her feet up onto her bed and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I uhm. I keep having bad dreams. Ever since my hair came back."

Setting her work aside, Cass moved to Rapunzel's side and sat next to her. "What are they about?"

"Her. Moth- _Gothel_. Coming back for me. She locks me up so she can be young again." Rapunzel leaned her shoulder against Cass's.

Cass took Rapunzel's hand between her down, rubbing it lightly. "I'm sorry you have to relive that. Or had to live that to begin with."

Rapunzel _never_ talked about the tower, or about Mother Gothel. What Cassandra knew, she'd gleaned from overheard conversations and the occasional remark from Eugene. She knew the basics, which were terrible enough. She couldn't imagine being stuck in a tower her whole life. More and more she was starting to understand Eugene's protectiveness, and it helped fuel her own.

"You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault." She shifted, curling into Cassandra's arm and side. "But my hair doesn't heal any more. It doesn't reverse the effects of time. And she's _so_ mad. She says all things things and it makes me cry and she realizes my tears can heal, like they did with Eugene. So she says she'll just have to make sure I keep crying."

Unfortunately, Cassandra could imagine any number of horrible things Gothel could do to make Rapunzel cry. Her hands tightened around Rapunzel's. "I think I get it, you don't have to keep going."

"I kind of do. I have to say it now or I'll _never_ be able to again." She turned her head, tears staining her face.

"She kills you. She kills Eugene. She lets me bring you both back. She tortures you in ways I didn't know were possible. I beg her, over and over, to just hurt me, to let you both go, and it just makes it _worse_. She gets sweet and apologetic, words that are kind and caring but not really. She always, always knows what say to talk me into doing what she wants and she makes me feel like it's what I want, too. I just..."

Rapunzel couldn't quite finish and was crying at full tilt by the end of it. Cassandra held her tightly and helplessly. It was a miracle she wasn't crying herself and the offer fell out without Cassandra thinking about it. "What if I stayed with you for a few nights? Share your bed. Might chase the nightmares away. After all, it's what a good lady in waiting should do."

Her fingers brushed at Rapunzel's cheeks, then she started wiping them dry. Too late, she caught herself kissing the Princess's forehead, but that didn't seem to bother Rapunzel. Rapunzel just clung to her more tightly, and nodded, burying her damp face against Cassandra's chest.

Once Rapunzel had calmed down, Cassandra cupped her face and lifted her head. "She's gone. She's never coming back and she'll never hurt you again. And even if, somehow, she's still out there? You've got the entire palace guard, your parents, Eugene and _me_ between her and you. I promise you, I will punch her in the throat and that's just to start."

Rapunzel smiled and had a hiccupy sort of laugh. "Okay. Thank you. You're a very good friend."

"Let me fetch my sleeping gown, and I'll come right back up, okay?" Cassandra, being a very good friend, kept her emotions in check until she was out of Rapunzel's room. Then she pressed her hand to her chest and fought keep _herself_ from crying. There was a feeling like a stab wound deep inside her chest.

That poor, gentle, and kind girl. If Gothel was still alive, she would have ridden out then and there and gutted her from chin to navel.

Once calm, she quietly went to her room, grabbing her gown and a small pack of essentials before returning to Rapunzel's. She found the Princess sitting where she'd left her, Pascal on her shoulder offering whatever kind of comfort a chameleon was capable of. Rapunzel glanced up when she entered and her eyes lit up.

Cassandra felt a warmth inside her chest, and couldn't help but smile back. "And I'm here."

"Great!" Rapunzel got up and let her dress drop to the ground with a kind of sound that Cassandra had never known she'd liked until just then. Under normal circumstances this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. She helped Rapunzel into those things all the time. Just never _out_ of them.

But she was okay until the slip came off. Rapunzel's stomach was more toned than expected and her legs were longer than expected, and her breasts were… Cassandra turned around, to find something safer to look at as she shed her own _but no where was safe._ Rapunzel smiled at her in the mirror and came closer. She froze, her dress half-way down her body as she felt Rapunzel's hand on her back. She very nearly jumped.

"What's this?"

"That scar?" Cassandra shivered as Rapunzel ran her finger along it. She almost forgot how to breathe when Rapunzel pressed her other hand into the space between her shoulder blades and leaned in. There was no escape. Wondering what god she'd managed to piss off, Cassandra's voice was strained. "My dad used to take me hunting. For my 15th birthday, we went looking for a stag. We ran into a bear instead. I pushed him out of the way and got slashed. We chased the bear off but he had to carry me out of the forest."

"Wow! I always knew you were tough, but a bear? That's amazing, Cass."

Rapunzel moved away, and Cass, keeping her back to Rapunzel, changed faster than she'd ever changed in her life. She was already starting to think this was a _bad plan_. But she'd make it through a night, easy. Especially if Raps didn't have any nightmares. "It wasn't like we killed it. Some day though. I'm going to make that bear into a rug."

"I believe in you." Rapunzel grinned, then slipped under the covers and pulled them aside for Cass. "Get in! It's cold in here."

Thank god it was cold, Cass thought., it might cool her head a little. She did as requested, getting under the sheets next to Rapunzel. The blanket was huge and it felt like it would be easy to get lost in it. She laid on her back, then rolled onto her side to face Rapunzel. This was silly. Rapunzel had never objected to closeness before and initiated it more often than not. Why would she start having problems now? "Ground rules. No nightmares, no tossing and turning. A good night's sleep, okay?"

"Sounds perfect." Rapunzel snuggled into Cass, burying her face in her neck and wrapping and arm around her. She tucked her other arm between them, grasping Cass's hand as she did so. Cass could only loop her arm around Rapunzel in return and hope that her back was a safe enough place to rest her hand.

"You're my favorite person," Rapunzel murmured.

"What about Eugene?"

"Him too." She yawned, stretching out against Cassandra, a bit like how a cat might be affectionate towards her favorite human.

It was going to be a long night. Rapunzel was warm and inviting, her body heat somehow extremely noticeable through the fabric of their nightgowns. There wasn't a part of her body touching Cass's that Cass wasn't keenly aware of and they both might as well have been nude for all the good their nightgowns did. And when she closed her eyes she saw Rapunzel standing there, skin glistening in the candlelight...

In hindsight, this had been a terrible mistake. There was no way she'd be able to sleep, she was too hyper-aware. Rapunzel scooted closer, and then her fingers started trailing patterns on Cassandra's back.

Cass was going to _die_. "Hey...hey, Raps? Feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Rapunzel sighed, breath warm on Cass's neck. "Feeling wonderful, thanks Cassandra."

"Okay, good." Cassandra would just have to suffer for the cause. "Sweet dreams..."

Raps drifted off quickly. Eventually, Cassandra was able to be free enough to roll onto her back. She turned her head, watching the beautifully peaceful expression on Rapunzel's face for what felt like hours. She wondered what kissing her would feel like, but quickly dismissed that thought. She shifted position once more, spooning Rapunzel and pulling her close just to savor it. Before long, sleep finally claimed her.

Rapunzel didn't have any nightmares, and Cassandra's were never shared even on a normal night. Like the peace on Rapunzel's face, she'd hold those memories dear to her heart, because she knew that was all she'd ever get. Dreams and memories.

A small price to pay for Rapunzel's piece of mind.


End file.
